The Great Divide
by Ossz
Summary: Not long after winning the Battle of Hoover Dam and making New Vegas independent, the Courier wakes up in Arizona, not knowing why and how. The Courier goes on a journey to find his friend Raul, but finds much, much more.


Headache… Opening my eyes... What do I see... Prison. Someone grabs my hand, helps me up. I didn't even know I was lying down. How long had I been unconscious? Where... where's Raul? Last week Raul and I, we won the battle of Hoover Dam. Raul's face was priceless. After that we went to the Lucky 38, we were half drunk by the time we got there. We drank, we danced. The new leaders of New Vegas. Now I'm in a cell. The last time I woke up like this was in Goodsprings. I got slapped in the face. 'Hey, wake up!' He had a young, African-American face. I sat down on a wooden bank. The jail smelled like piss. 'My name's Jacob, what's yours?'  
'Richard.'  
'Well, Richard, you couldn't have been arrested at a better time!'  
I didn't even wonder why I was arrested, but then again, if you run such an enormous city all by yourself, it's only a matter of time before shit starts hitting the fan. I wondered where I was...  
'Hey, haven't you ever heard of me before?' I asked.  
'Well, I on the radio I heard about some guy named Richard who caused a lot of trouble in the Mojave, and eventually took over New Vegas. But that's the only Richard I ever heard of.'  
'I am that Richard, Richard Samson.'  
He laughed. 'Jesus, you've taken too many chems or what?'  
'I'm feeling perfectly fine Jacob, I'm serious.'  
'Yeah, right! As if someone who destroys the biggest military forces in the Mojave couldn't fight a few kidnappers.' I felt stupid.  
'Kidnappers? Isn't this prison run by some military force?'  
'Nope.'

I was silent for a moment.

'Where the fuck am I?' I asked.  
'Welcome, my friend, to Arizona!'

Arizona... Raul told me about Arizona... He said he had lived here for quite a long time. This region has been taken over by the Legion! But the Legion is as good as dead. I thought about all the young men who didn't fight at Hoover Dam for God knows what reason. There's no hope for them, their minds have already been sickened by the Legion's brutal ideals; Ideals they grew up with. Maybe they'll become raiders. A patethic end to a pathethic empire. I remember the day I killed Caesar. We killed Caesar. Raul and I, some didn't even know our names. Some just knew us as 'the Legionhunters'. We were impressed by the Legionnaries' bravery though. Even after all their collegues died they'll still attack your heavily armed body with a ridiculous machete. Where was I again? Oh, prison.  
'You said I couldn't have been arrested at a better time, how so?'  
He winked at me. 'This evening, my friend, we're going to escape this shithole!'  
He explained his plan. Last week, one of the guards left his keyring in his pants and some of the prisoners who had to do the laundry found it. I was surprised by two things: I didn't know this 'faction' we're dealing with is organized enough to have guards, and I didn't know these prisoners were smart enough to keep the keyring and make a plan, instead of just running off when they get the chance. At eight the guards are going to shift duties. At that time, one of the prisoners will open his cell and quickly free his neighbours. Together, those who had already escaped will wait for the guard to come through the door and kick the shit out of him. Then, they'll steal his gun and armor and one of them would equip the armor and kill the first guard he'd come across. Someone else would steal his armor and gun and so on. This way they want to kill every non-prisoner in the building.

The plan went perfect.

We were in the kidnappers' barracks, looting whatever we needed for our journeys.  
'So were are you going, friend?' Jacob said, while testing out his new .357 Magnum revolver.  
'I want to find a friend of mine, he shouldn't be too hard to find, he's a ghoul in a vaquero outfit. Maybe I can find some information in this building.'  
He laughed. 'Well, good luck with that, friend!'  
'Wait... before I go, what are you guys going to do?'  
'As you may have already noticed most of us aren't exactly 'convicts'. We were kidnapped. All these guys want is ransom. In fact, before I was kidnapped I heared a family had received a letter where these sons of bitches were asking for ransom if the family would want to see their husband and daddy alive again. I'm glad we killed them. Most of us have families too, you see. So we're just heading back to them.'  
I was glad they weren't going to form a patethic faction, like the Powder Gangers did.  
'Jacob, I wish you nothing but luck.'  
'Thanks friend, you too.'

I walked out of the door, as a free man, wondering... Why was I kidnapped? According to Jacob they only kidnap people in this area. The last thing I can remember is being in the Lucky 38, in the middle of the Mojave, and this is Arizona for God's sake! These guys didn't kidnap me, they don't have the equipment to get past an army of robots. When I find the ones who kidnapped me, I'll find Raul.


End file.
